Saturday, November 23, 2024

28 children among 52 killed in Mai Mahiu floods

Date:

The government has revealed that 28 children were among 52 people who died after floods swept away five villages in Mai Mahiu on Monday.

Data shows that 11 men and 12 women also died in the deluge, while authorities are yet to determine the gender of the severed head found in the debris that swept through the villages of Kamuchera, Jerusalem, Githuru, George and Ruweru.

Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, Dr. Abdi Hassan, revealed on Thursday that 49 people are missing and their fate has not yet been determined.

It also emerged yesterday that at least 129 learners, who were victims of the Mai Mahiu tragedy, will not be able to return to schools when they reopen next week.

Dr. Abdi said: “Among the affected learners are 93 male students and 36 secondary school students.”

Meanwhile, the command center and victims of the tragedy camped out at Ngia Girls Secondary School will be moved to a nearby prayer center to allow the school to reopen next week.

Of the 112 people injured in the tragedy, 32 are still receiving treatment in different hospitals in Nakuru and Kiambu hospitals.

Authorities also moved in and drained two water bodies in the Kijabi Hills that were posing a flood risk, averting another disaster downstream.

The exercise was conducted by military personnel and engineers from Kenya Railways, who also inspected the old Longonot-Kigabe-Mai Mahiu railway line.

At the same time, the government has also embarked on the repair of major infrastructure destroyed in the tragedy including electricity and water networks, roads, railway line and others.

Kenya Railways has revealed that it will take at least three months to rebuild the damaged section of the railway line in the Kijabi Dark Tunnel that was damaged during the Mai Mahiu tragedy.

The giant underpass and the damaged section of the Nairobi-Kisumu railway line that was swept downstream will be repaired to allow operations to resume along the route, says KRC General Manager Philip Maina.

“We have deployed Kenya Railways engineers to assess the damage caused before we start rebuilding the section. The entire process will take about three months,” Mr. Mainga revealed.

Nearby Kijabe railway station was also damaged by floods.

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